It's weird now: we're getting down to the last week of officially living at our current home. I've been here for just over five years, and during that time you make a lot of friends. One thing that we haven't been very good about is getting to know our neighbors; rarely do our kids go outside and play with other children, and it just feels like a very closed community. We're a part of the problem as well, though -- here we are getting ready to move in the next five days, and I don't think I've personally told more than one of our immediate neighbors! Keith and Ha are probably the closest friends we have in the area, and I haven't taken the time to go over there and say goodbye. So that's on my to do list for the week!
We had choir practice this morning, and naturally I showed up a few minutes late, but they really wanted me there to sing the tenor part for the Christmas music. We've got plenty of guys that can sing reasonably well, but I guess I'm one of the few tenors who consistently comes to choir -- especially since they called one of the other tenors to be the choir director. The cantata that we're doing is actually quite a bit more difficult than most of the music we've sung in the past, which I like on the one hand, but I dislike the other people really struggling to get their parts right. We've got one more practice scheduled, Saturday morning right before we pick up the van, and then I'm going to see how many of the men I can convince to come help us load up. It's going to be a crazy day, that's for sure!
Continuing with the Book of Mormon reading, so far I only missed that one day and I'm now well past the half way mark. Today I read about the Zoramites and the Rameumptom, then Alma's awesome talks on faith, the atonement, and the purpose of the Law of Moses. That was followed with Amulek testifying of Christ and reiterating what Alma had just said. Then we get the Zoramites expelling all the converts, wars between the Nephites and Lamanites + Zoramites, and the beginning of Alma's words to his son Helaman. There are so many great scripture in this section, so let's just hit a few of the highlights.
Alma 31: 5: "And now, as the preaching of the word had a great tendency to lead the people to do that which was just—yea, it had had more powerful effect upon the minds of the people than the sword, or anything else, which had happened unto them—therefore Alma thought it was expedient that they should try the virtue of the word of God." (Book of Mormon, pp. 285) What I like about this is how it introduces some of what comes next, and you gain an understanding of what sort of "preaching of the word" they're talking about. For example, here are a few snippets showing their desire, Alma's lecture on faith, and Amulek's talk about the purpose of the Law of Moses:
Alma 31: 35: "Behold, O Lord, their souls are precious, and many of them are our brethren; therefore, give unto us, O Lord, power and wisdom that we may bring these, our brethren, again unto thee." (Book of Mormon, pp. 287)
Alma 32: 21: "And now as I said concerning faith—faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true." (Book of Mormon, pp. 289)
Alma 34: 10, 14: "For it is expedient that there should be a great and last sacrifice; yea, not a sacrifice of man, neither of beast, neither of any manner of fowl; for it shall not be a human sacrifice; but it must be an infinite and eternal sacrifice.... And behold, this is the whole meaning of the law, every whit pointing to that great and last sacrifice; and that great and last sacrifice will be the Son of God, yea, infinite and eternal." (Book of Mormon, pp. 293-294)
With all the great things I just read, that leads me to the real tragedy of the past week. I probably should have said something about this earlier, but there was another mass shooting at an elementary school, this time in Connecticut on Friday. What I can only assume is a terribly mentally ill man (Adam Lanza) killed his mother, who taught kindergartners, and then went to the school and shot up the place, focusing on his mother's class. Last I heard, there are 20 dead children and 7 adults, including the shooter.
There are so many things to say and think about a tragedy like this, and I imagine in 20 years when my children are grown we will still be hearing about this incident -- and probably others like it, unfortunately. I think the real problem is systemic -- we have so much in our society that just isn't right, with entitlements, lack of caring, kicking God out of the public eye, ignoring mental health, overprescribing medications, etc. Outlawing guns isn't the answer -- there have been five killing rampages at schools in China using cleavers and other large knives in the past year -- and pointing the finger isn't going to help either.
What we need is more love, compassion, service, friendliness, and general humanity. What we need is more people to be like the reformed Alma the Younger and the Sons of Mosiah, willing to go out there and serve and preach for decades in order to "lead people to do that which is just". Who cares whether you vote Republican, Democrat, or something else -- we can still be friends and help each other! I have no idea what really went on to get Adam Lanza to the point where he would do something like this, but he must have been living in some sort of real or imagined nightmare. God bless all those who are and continue to be affected by this.
Daily Check Up:
1) Scripture study: Yes (15 pages/day through the end of the year: Alma 31-36, pp. 285-300)
2) Morning and evening prayers: Yes
3) 15+ minutes good book: No
4) 15 minutes of parenting/relationships/children book: No
5) Exercise for 30 minutes or more: No
6) One doTERRA blog post: Yes (Bring Back the TerraZyme!)
7) Use doTERRA oils for something: Yes
8) doTERRA Leadership and Mentor calls (Mon-Fri): N/A
9) Talk to two people about doTERRA: Yes (two members)
10) Contact doTERRA front line: N/A
11) 15 minutes organizing office area: N/A
12) Solid 8 hours (M-F) working at my job: N/A
13) Early to bed, early to rise: No (2:00AM to 9:00AM)
14) One AnandTech pipeline or article: N/A
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